Iain Russell
Head of Consumer Proposition, Moneyhub
Moneyhub consolidates all your accounts securely in one place, giving you the big picture of your financial situation while helping you monitor your spending.
When it comes to your finances, it can be tempting to bury your head in the sand. But that’s never a wise thing to do — particularly not in the current climate says Iain Russell, Head of Consumer Proposition at data and payments company, Moneyhub.
Easy money management
“It always pays to have a clear overview of your finances and spending behaviour,” he says. “That way, you can better manage what’s coming in and going out, while making your cash work harder for you.” The kicker, though, is that 39% of adults don’t feel confident about managing their money, according to statistics from the Financial Capability Survey. This can be due to the fact that people don’t have the time, the knowledge, or even the desire to manage it.
Plus, while financial technology has made life simpler in many ways, it’s also made it horribly easy to overspend. “We’re constantly tapping our bank cards or phones onto contactless readers, which is quite passive,” says Russell. “What we need is a tool that reminds us of the transactions we’ve made so we can feel more active, accountable and in control.”
All financial data in one place
That’s where open finance technology could help, because it allows you to connect and view all your accounts in one place, so you can understand the bigger financial picture. For example, Moneyhub — a certified software developer of open banking, open finance and open data applications — enables you to securely connect to bank accounts, investment platforms, pensions and property valuation services. When users add their own accounts to the app, they have access to all their financial data on one platform, rather than painstakingly having to log in and out of different providers’ apps and websites.
The more accounts you connect, the greater clarity and control you will have.
There are various advantages to this, notes Russell. Users will be able to categorise areas of expense, such as entertainment, groceries, sport and fitness, etc., whilst at the same time tracking how your money is performing or where it could work harder. “It always pays to have a clear overview of your money in order to improve your financial wellness,” he says.
Taking control
The more accounts you connect, the greater clarity and control you will have. Among other tools — a personalised dashboard highlights income, expenditure and remaining balance at a glance from all connected sources, while a regular payments area itemises all monthly bills, tracking and alerting you to any changes. All data is constantly refreshed and updated.
As a customer recently told Russell, “It’s very frustrating to have lots of bits and pieces everywhere, and the time and effort it takes to monitor them all individually… Moneyhub helps keep track. This whole revolution in fintech is fantastic.”
Keeping information secure
Russell admits that concern around security can be a barrier to the growth of open finance. After all, users are consolidating their financial data on a platform run by a third party. How can they be certain that their information is safe?
“We use the most modern security practices with accounts connected via a secure authentication token, so no passwords or emails are ever shared,” he says. “Everything is encrypted, and a user’s data is ‘read only’ information that is only accessible to them.”
Ultimately, Russell thinks that the future of money management is open and automated. “Giving people seamless access to all of their financial data will help them make better, more informed decisions,” he says. “That’s more important than ever.”
